17-53 And say to My servants that they speak what is best. Surely the devil sows dissensions among them. The devil is surely an open enemy to man.a
وَقُل لِّعِبَادِى يَقُولُوا۟ ٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ يَنزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ كَانَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ عَدُوًّۭا مُّبِينًۭا (۵۳)
17-53a: This was a time when the persecution of Muslims by the disbelievers was at its height. The Holy Prophet was being ridiculed and scorned as a magician, astrologer, fabricator, and poet. At this crucial time, in the previous verse Muslims are given the good news that the disbelievers would eventually accept Islam. They are also instructed in this verse that despite the abuse, they should speak with their adversaries in the best way and not be harsh with them because the devil attempts to increase discord. Harsh words only increase persecution. For the meaning of نزَغ see 7-204a.
Is there not a lesson in this for the Muslims of today? Were the opponents bent upon exterminating Islam then, less than the ones today? The fact is that truth and righteousness can only be propagated in the world with gentleness. Without being harsh, we can show our dislike of the actions perpetrated by the Christian nations, intoxicated with their dominance. The indication in the use of the word یرحمکم will have mercy on you in the next verse is that Allah may make them enter Islam.
17-54 Your Lord knows you best. He will have mercy on you, if He please, or He will chastise you, if He please. And We have not sent thee as being in charge of them.
رَّبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ ۖ إِن يَشَأْ يَرْحَمْكُمْ أَوْ إِن يَشَأْ يُعَذِّبْكُمْ ۚ وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكِيلًۭا (۵۴)
17-55 And thy Lord best knows those who are in the heavens and the earth. And certainly We made some of the prophets to excel others, and to David We gave the Zabur.
وَرَبُّكَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ وَلَقَدْ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ ۖ وَءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُۥدَ زَبُورًۭا (۵۵)
17-55a: The distinctiveness of Zabur(Psalms of Prophet David): The mention of some prophets excelling others refers to the excellence of the Holy Prophet. See 2-252a. This chapter starts with it being revealed that the Holy Prophet is the embodiment of the excellence of all previous prophets and has achieved the highest status of success and nearness to Allah that is possible for a human. This is why, after indicating the excellence of the Holy Prophet here, at the end of the section the Holy Prophet’s roya, or spiritual vision, known as the Mi‘raj or Ascension is mentioned. In verse 7:58 the global mission of the Holy Prophet is referred to as a measure of his excellence. The mention specifically of Zabur given to Prophet David is because of the intensity of its message, while in contrast, the lesson given by the Quran is one of gentleness even to the opponents of Islam as stated in يَقُولُوا۟ ٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ speak what is best. In addition, the successes to which attention is drawn in this chapter includes the promise that Masjid Aqsa, Bait-ul-Muqaddas will be given to the Muslims and this prophecy is specifically given in Prophet David’s Zabur: وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِى ٱلزَّبُورِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱلذِّكْرِ أَنَّ ٱلْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِىَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحُونَ [And certainly We wrote in the Book after the reminder that My righteous servants will inherit the land] (21:105). Prophet David and Zabur’s mention in this section is not disconnected from the general theme, rather it shows clearly the literary beauty with which the Quran carries the theme forward and despite the lapse of several sections in between, the focus is kept on the main message of the chapter.
17-56 Say: Call on those whom you assert besides Him; they have no power to remove distress from you nor to change.a
قُلِ ٱدْعُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ فَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ ٱلضُّرِّ عَنكُمْ وَلَا تَحْوِيلًا (۵۶)
17-56a: تَحْوِيلًا – It is derived from حال for which see 4-155a. To move from one place to another is تُحوّل and to be moved is تحویل and these words are used to show that false gods cannot remove distress from one and place it on another. حِوَل and تحوّل have the same meaning, as in لَا يَبْغُونَ عَنْهَا حِوَلًۭا they will not desire removal therefrom (18:108).
17-57 Those whom they call upon, themselves seek the means of access to their Lord — whoever of them is nearest — and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement. Surely the chastisement of thy Lord is a thing to be cautious of.a
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمُ ٱلْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُۥ وَيَخَافُونَ عَذَابَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًۭا (۵۷)
17-57a: وَسِيلَةَ – See 5-77a for its meaning. The Ibn Jarir commentary gives its meaning as nearness citing an Ibn Abbas narration.
أَيُّهُمْ – The ایّ in أَيُّهُمْ is either a relative pronoun (موصولہ ) which stands for يَبْتَغُونَ and it means that those who are nearest to Allah desire to get even closer through their obedience or ایّ is interrogatory ( استفہامیہ) and the meaning is that they compete to see who is more closer to Allah.
How to achieve nearness to Allah: Which deities are mentioned in the verse? According to some these are jinn, according to others these are angels and another opinion is they refer to Jesus, Mary and Uzair (IJ). The last opinion is correct because obtaining nearness though deeds and obedience is mentioned in the beginning of the verse. The Quran does not speak of the jinn as being near to Allah and while angels are near to Allah, but they do not obtain this closeness through obedience and good deeds, nor is there any increase in their nearness over time. Hence the reference in this verse is to righteous persons like Prophet Jesus, with whom the greatest polytheistic practice is associated. Even in its present form, the Gospel of Prophet Jesus shows that he worshipped and prayed to One God so as to advance in nearness. Why would a god need to seek nearness to God?
The fear of God’s chastisement is to fear breaking His laws, as is best said through the tongue of the Best of Creation, Prophet Muhammad: إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ إِنْ عَصَيْتُ رَبِّى عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍۢ Surely I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the chastisement of a grievous day (6:15). So, the way to attain nearness to Allah is to follow the same path which these righteous persons walked: to obey the laws of Allah. It cannot be obtained by worshiping the righteous. A person who considers someone to be righteous and close to Allah should follow in their footsteps in order to obtain the same blessings. That would be the straight path.
17-58 And there is not a town but We will destroy it before the day of Resurrection or chastise it with a severe chastisement. That is written in the Book.
وَإِن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ إِلَّا نَحْنُ مُهْلِكُوهَا قَبْلَ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ أَوْ مُعَذِّبُوهَا عَذَابًۭا شَدِيدًۭا ۚ كَانَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ مَسْطُورًۭا (۵۸)
17-58a: The previous verse states that even those near to Allah are ever fearful of His chastisement. Now it is stated that how can those who take these righteous people as deities escape chastisement, because while the righteous strove to increase in obedience, these people are taking Allah’s righteous servants as deities and boldly increasing in sinfulness. A sign that they are on the wrong path is that they will repeatedly be chastised, and accordingly it is stated elsewhere: وَقَالَتِ ٱلْيَهُودُ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ نَحْنُ أَبْنَـٰٓؤُا۟ ٱللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّـٰٓؤُهُۥ ۚ قُلْ فَلِمَ يُعَذِّبُكُم بِذُنُوبِكُم :And the Jews and Christians say: We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones. Say: Why does He then chastise you for your sins? (5:18). 17:58 specified that every town will be destroyed or chastised before the Day of Resurrection and this is written in the Book, by which is meant that it is in the knowledge of Allah and has been made manifest in the Quran. These words do not mean the coming of the Resurrection because then the destruction and severe chastisement would not have been mentioned separately. When the Day of Resurrection comes, there will be general destruction everywhere and the earth will crumble to pieces. So, the mention in this verse is of events that are to occur before that event during the time of the Holy Prophet. Destruction here means that habitations will be destroyed completely, and severe chastisement means that many types of calamities will visit them. As is apparent from other places in the Quran, Allah’s chastisement is sent for the reformation of the people, as in: أَخَذْنَآ أَهْلَهَا بِٱلْبَأْسَآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَضَّرَّعُونَ : We seized its people with distress and affliction that they might humble themselves (7:94). Allah’s mercy takes precedence over His wrath; hence the calamity of destruction occurs only rarely. Nevertheless, history is witness to the fact that many habitations in the world have been destroyed and it is also true that every human settlement is faced with different kinds of calamities throughout time. This happens because people exceed the limits in injustice and cruelty and Allah’s punishment is only to warn them and is for their sins, as is stated elsewhere فَذَاقَتْ وَبَالَ أَمْرِهَا وَكَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ أَمْرِهَا خُسْرًا : So it tasted the evil consequences of its conduct, and the end of its affair was perdition (65:9) and وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ عَتَتْ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهَا وَرُسُلِهِۦ فَحَاسَبْنَـٰهَا حِسَابًۭا شَدِيدًۭا وَعَذَّبْنَـٰهَا عَذَابًۭا نُّكْرًۭا : And how many a town which rebelled against the commandment of its Lord and His messengers, so We called it to severe account and We chastised it with a stern chastisement! (65:8).
17-59 And nothing hindered Us from sending signs, but the ancients rejected them. And We gave to Thamud the she-camel, a manifest sign, but they did her wrong, and We send not signs but to warn.a
وَمَا مَنَعَنَآ أَن نُّرْسِلَ بِٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ إِلَّآ أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا ٱلْأَوَّلُونَ ۚ وَءَاتَيْنَا ثَمُودَ ٱلنَّاقَةَ مُبْصِرَةًۭ فَظَلَمُوا۟ بِهَا ۚ وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ إِلَّا تَخْوِيفًۭا (۵۹)
17-59a: Quran does not reject miracles: Sometimes this verse is misinterpreted as a denial of miracles, or certain types of miracles, as if in this verse Allah states that He does not send signs now because the previous nations ignored them. If, in fact, the rejection of people can be a hindrance for Allah, then Allah should have stopped the system of sending messengers and prophets as well, because there is not a single prophet who was not rejected, as stated in: فَإِن كَذَّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كُذِّبَ رُسُلٌۭ مِّن قَبْلِكَ : But if they reject thee, so indeed were rejected before thee messengers (3:184) and يَـٰحَسْرَةً عَلَى ٱلْعِبَادِ ۚ مَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا كَانُوا۟ بِهِۦ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ: Alas for the servants! Never does a messenger come to them but they mock him (36:30). Misinterpreting this verse would be an objection about Allah’s Wisdom because it implies that Allah did not know initially that people will reject His signs, and it is only after the people rejected that Allah understood that it is useless to send signs. An incident that is cited in the commentary of this verse by Ibn Kathir and Ibn Jarir : the disbelievers demanded that the Safa Mountain be turned into gold and if that happened, they would believe. Allah’s response was to agree, but if they still did not believe, He would destroy them completely like the previous nations were destroyed. The Holy Prophet petitioned Allah and requested leniency for them and in response this verse was revealed. In this case then ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ the signs will be taken to mean the special sign that the Quraish demanded and by كَذَّبَ بِهَا rejected it the pronoun stands not for signs generally but to these particular signs. However, the ending words of the verse وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ إِلَّا تَخْوِيفًۭا : and We send not signs but to warn do not support this explanation because the conversion of Safa to gold was not to تخویف warn. In addition, using the word نخوفہم and we warn in the next verse, conveys that just as in the past signs were sent to تخویف warn, similar signs are still being sent. Both these verses show that there is no denial of miracles. The context also shows that there is no denial of signs because in the previous verse it is stated clearly that Allah will continue to destroy or send severe chastisements in the world, and the next verse also mentions the sending of chastisements. So, taking الّا except as استثناۓ منقطع creating a separation from the text to state an exception the translation of the verse will read: Nothing has stopped Us from sending signs, but it has been the case that those for whom the signs were sent to learn a lesson, rejected them. The signs are sent for تخویف warning and are chastisements, stopping short of destruction, so that people may become afraid and turn to Allah.
The mention of giving Thamud the sign of the camel is a parenthetical sentence, inserted in the middle of the verse, as an example of a sign. This camel was made a sign for Thamud, but they treated it cruelly. What is the reason for specifically mentioning the camel? Out of the nations that were destroyed, Thamud, who inhabited Al Hijr north of Madinah, had the closest geographical proximity to the people of Hijaz. The plan that the opponents of the Holy Prophet made against him was the same as the plan that was hatched by the opponents of Prophet Saleh: قَالُوا۟ تَقَاسَمُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُۥ وَأَهْلَهُۥ ثُمَّ لَنَقُولَنَّ لِوَلِيِّهِۦ مَا شَهِدْنَا مَهْلِكَ أَهْلِهِۦ وَإِنَّا لَصَـٰدِقُونَ :They (the opponents of Saleh) said: Swear one to another by Allah that we shall attack him and his family by night, then we shall say to his heir. We witnessed not the destruction of his family, and we are surely truthful (27:49). A similar plan was hatched against the Holy Prophet even though Surah Naml, in which the plan against Prophet Saleh is mentioned, was revealed much before the plan hatched against the Holy Prophet. The killing of the camel by Thamud was a precursor to the killing of Prophet Saleh and maybe this was done so that he could not escape.
17-60 And when We said to thee: Surely thy Lord encompasses men. And We made not the vision which We showed thee but a trial for men, as also the tree cursed in the Qur’an. And We warn them, but it only adds to their great inordinacy.a
وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لَكَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ أَحَاطَ بِٱلنَّاسِ ۚ وَمَا جَعَلْنَا ٱلرُّءْيَا ٱلَّتِىٓ أَرَيْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا فِتْنَةًۭ لِّلنَّاسِ وَٱلشَّجَرَةَ ٱلْمَلْعُونَةَ فِى ٱلْقُرْءَانِ ۚ وَنُخَوِّفُهُمْ فَمَا يَزِيدُهُمْ إِلَّا طُغْيَـٰنًۭا كَبِيرًۭا (۶۰)
17-60a: أَحَاطَ بِٱلنَّاسِ – For أَحَاطَة see 10-22a. The meaning here is to encompass with Divine power and the meaning of احٰیط بفلان is his destruction became near.
ٱلرُّءْيَا is associated specifically with dreams and here it refers to the ascension known as Mi‘raj as is established by Bukhari and other books of Hadith. However, calling it رؤیا عین vision of the eyes by some commentators is grammatically incorrect and hence it is not acceptable. Details of it have been discussed in 17:1a.
ٱلشَّجَرَةَ ٱلْمَلْعُونَةَ – According to Ibn Abbas, this is taken to be the tree of Zaqqum and it is called cursed because the people who eats its fruit will be cursed. However, based on note 2-35b. the devil was cursed because he refused and was proud and this refusal and pride has been referred to as an evil tree خَبِيثَةٍۢ ٍ َشَجَرَة 14:26) in the Quran.
The vision of Mi‘raj : In this the last verse of the section, attention is again turned to the real theme by mentioning the vision referred to in the start of the chapter. It is stated that the disbelievers who consider themselves as very powerful are in the grasp of Allah and they will be destroyed. Some commentators consider this to be a reference to the Battle of Badr. The Mi‘raj vision is then mentioned which predicts the future successes of the Holy Prophet. Then the cursed tree, Zaqqum, is mentioned which is the food of the people in hell. This refers to the punishment of the opponents, or the purpose is to warn the people about the tree of evil or the tree of rebellion and pride. The vision and the cursed tree are both said to be a trial for people. The vision is called a trial because of how people struggled to believe in it. If the cursed tree is taken to be Zaqqum, it could be a trial because it is said that Abu Jahl, on hearing that the food of the people of hell will be Zaqqum, prepared a meal of dates and butter and scoffed that this is what they call Zaqqum. If the cursed tree stands for rebellion and pride, it is a trial because those who adopt this attitude land themselves in afflictions and sufferings.
Bayan-ul-Quran 